She's In Love
by crazytomboy78
Summary: Cute one-shot! Pepper just can't seem to get him out of her head. What really annoys her is that the more she thinks about it, the harder she starts to fall for him. And by now, she's falling HARD. Pepperony XD


**Like, heyy!! I gotted bored…..only have time for a short li'lle one-shot…..before I start, I have a question….you all know how im still sorta new here, right? Well, what does AU and OC/OOC mean? I don't get it. I picked up the R&R, that's obvious, but the other two, not so much….so tellzzzz me pleeeZ?**

She couldn't manage to get him out of her head. He was so smart, so naïve, so…..handsome….yeah, sure he's arrogant at times, but that only makes him cuter. He absolutely adored her. How obvious is it? Has anyone else noticed? _What if I can't win him over Whitney? What if….what if he likes her more than me?_ Her thoughts scared her. She wanted him to like her. Better yet, love her. She wanted his metal heart to warm in her own grasp. After all, it's got to be cold to have a chunk of metal in your chest, right? She wondered what it was like to have an artificial heart. What it felt like to know that your own heart wasn't real……Yet it still had feelings, right? You can't have a heart without feelings to match it, right? Yeah, yeah, that's right. It would be otherwise impossible. She then felt her phone vibrating on her leg as she lay on her bed, sketching little doodles into her diary.

"Hello?" She answered to the notorious caller.

"Pepper, I actually got Tony to go out and do something fun for a change today, did you have anything in mind to do?" Rhodey asked. Pepper lit up with excitement and started babbling on and on.

"Oh, good! That's awesome! Ok, so we could take a walk, or go to Times Square, go to lunch—ooh, it's not too late for lunch, is it?" Pepper glanced at her watch and continued talking. "Oh, oh! Or, we could…we could just look through town and find something fun to do, or, or we could patrol the city!! But then Tony wouldn't be having a normal fun time, so that's out. We could—" Pepper suggested.

"Pepper! Stop talking so much!" Rhodey interrupted. She grunted and went on.

"Oh, oh oh oh! Wait for me to get there! We could think of something to do together! I'll be right there!" Pepper yelped, exited. She slipped her diary into her shoulder bag and zipped out of her house with a stifled "Going out, be back later dad!" As she ran out the front door, not caring if her dad heard or not. In a matter of minutes later, Pepper was walking up to the front door of Tony and Rhodey's house. She didn't need to knock, because right before she could knock on the door, which she was reaching her arm out to do, the door swung open. Pepper started to fall forward, surprised at the door's sudden movement. Before she could impact for the fall, two particularly softening arms stopped and caught her.

"Woah, Pepper! No need to fall over." Tony joked. Pepper was leaning into Tony's arms, face burying itself in his chest. Realizing the position, the two blushed a soft pink color.

"I-uhh, was near the door and I saw you coming. Sorry if I surprised you…" Tony explained. Pepper nodded.

"It-uhh, that's okay." Pepper responded. Tony stood her up and the two re-joined Rhodey in Tony's room. Rhodey was sitting on Tony's computer desk chair and Tony lay back on his bed. Finding her own place to sit, Pepper sat on the edge of Tony's bed and made herself comftorble.

"So, what do we wanna do?" Pepper asked, breaking a moment of silence. Tony shrugged and Rhodey suggested that a walk was probably a good idea. So they decided on taking a walk and finding something to do. As Rhodey went to go tell his mom, Tony got off his bed and walked to his door. Realizing Pepper wasn't following him, he looked back to see her struggling to get out of her lying position. He walked over to her and held out a helping hand. Pepper grabbed it and stood up. Failing to do so, she fell on the bed, taking Tony with her. He landed laying on top of her as he awkwardly stayed there for a moment. A look of surprise flooded their faces.

"Ahh….sorry….couldn't keep my balance there…." Pepper apologized, blushing. Tony waved it off nervously and stood up, once again helping her up. With standing success reached, they walked out of the room and joined Rhodey.

"So, where do we wanna look?" Rhodey asked, Tony once again shrugging in an 'I really don't care where' matter, Pepper bringing up a million and three more possibilities. Rhodey came up with an idea where they could go and explained what they were going to do.  
As the three walked outside, Pepper started to shiver. Fall was…umm, falling, upon the city **(A/N: Hahahah….ik….ummm…sarry.)**, making the wind blow more often, and colder. Noticing Pepper's violent shaking, he offered her his coat, insisting that he didn't need it anyways. Thanking him, Pepper took it and slid her arms into the fake-fur lined sleeves. She noticed that the coat even smelled like Tony, a pleasant scent that she thought smelled like white chocolate and vanilla. She embraced the wonderful smell and kept it as another reason why Tony was so perfect.

"Mmmmm…Tony…how did you get this coat to smell like white chocolate and vanilla?" Pepper asked, getting intoxicated by the scent.

"Well, funny story. I left it by the oven one day, and once I found it, the scent of white chocolate chips and vanilla fragrance was stuck to it. I can't seem to get rid of the smell." Tony explained, pointing out a diner to Rhodey and suggesting they could go there. Rhodey waved it off and they kept looking.

"Well I LOVE it! It smells so nice." Pepper said, smiling softly.

"Well, cool?" Tony teased. Rhodey spotted another diner, and the three agreed to just go there. Once they had gotten a table, Rhodey made a short stop to the bathroom.

"Drinks for any of you?" The waitress asked. Tony accepted the offer and ordered a diet coke.

"And for your girlfriend?" She asked, taking the two by surprise. They blushed furiously.

"I-ahh, I'll just have a-a, a diet…." Pepper stammered. Niether quite felt the courage to correct her, but the waitress noticed their embarrassment and took note of it.

"Right, friend, sorry." She corrected herself. She nodded, scribbled the orders down on her notepad and walked off. The two stayed silent as Rhodey returned to his seat.

"Is there, uhhh, something I missed here?" Rhodey asked, suspicious.

"NO! Uhh, no, nothing's wrong, nothing missed, just uhh—conversation." Tony immediately shot back, shocking even himself with the response. Pepper nodded in agreement.

"Right…." Rhodey said back. The waitress came back with the drinks and took Rhodey's order. The three decided on food, got it and ate it in about an hour and a half. After they were done, and had scraped together enough money for the bill, they continued their walk and went to see other things they could do. They couldn't seem to find anything that was appealing to their interest, so they went back to Tony's room. Tony had to charge anyways.

Once they got back to his room, Rhodey claimed that it was time for his 'scheduled nap', so he left Tony and Pepper to talk for themselves. Tony slipped his shirt off, Pepper watching every second of it. For some reason she found him ten times hotter when he had his shirt off. She blushed and watched him plug in his charger. As she lay on his bed, on her stomach and legs bent at the knees, sticking up in the air, she picked a magazine out of her handbag and started to read it. Tony looked through his computer, browsing through armor schematics. He had several new ideas for suits—a waterproof suit, an underground suit, a fire-proof suit. There were several more ideas, but he had just started the list and was looking at the schematics to see which ones he could do and which ones remained impossible.

"Ugh! _Of course _**she's** in here; she just **has** to ruin everything!" Pepper exclaimed, shouting to a picture of Whitney in a magazine. Tony glanced at her with confusion.

"What? Little-miss-perfect is in _another_ one of my favorite magazines." Pepper pointed out Whitney's flirtatious picture and following article about how her father didn't care and blah blah blah. **(A/N: I mean, really! Who cares about Whitney? She's a Tony-stealing ho….ahh!!! 'Scuze the language!) **Tony rolled his eyes and laughed lightly.

"Why _do _you hate her so much, Pepper?" Tony asked. Pepper cursed in her head. She really hated her because she was stealing Tony from her; and on _purpose_ too. She constantly enraged Pepper, every time she stepped into the picture. Did she have to recall the 'pet' incedent, and her remark about being miserable stuck with Pepper. But she couldn't possibly tell Tony that.

"Well, you know how she always treats me! She called me your _pet_, remember? Just because she doesn't 'go through hoops' for people." Pepper explained, only being half truthful. Tony shook his head.

"I don't know why she says those things, Pepper, but I know you're better than that so just…just try to ignore her." Tony said, making Pepper smile.

"You really think that?" She asked in a hopeful tone. Tony nodded his head yes. Pepper nearly shrieked with giddy joy and gave Tony the biggest, warmest hug that he had ever gotten. Then again, she was the only one who hugged him. He smiled and hugged back. For a moment, Pepper stopped squeezing him and just let herself rest in his warm grasp. The beat of Tony's heart soothed her, and in a way, cooed her. Her tight grip around Tony had loosened, but she left her arms wrapped around him. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she resisted the urge to let them close.

"Umm….Pepper? You alive there?" Tony asked. Pepper snapped back to the real world.

"Oh…uh, right, hehe, s-sorry!" She quickly muttered, letting go of Tony and dropping her arms to her side. She blushed furiously; not only because she had held on just a moment too long, but because he had taken his shirt off to charge, too.

"I-its, uhh, ok…" Tony muttered back. Pepper buried her head in her magazine, hiding her pink face from Tony. Tony simply returned to his computer, burying his own face in it. Tony's room fell awkwardly silent. That is, until a little while later, Rhodey made his way back into the room, _feeling _the akward silence.

"Something I, ahh…missed?" Rhodey asked, remaining in the doorway. Tony swung his chair around and stood up, unplugging his charger. He walked over to the corner of his room to retrieve his shirt.

"No, nope, we've just been, aahh, sitting here. I had to look at different armor schematics." Tony replied. He slipped his shirt back onto his bare chest. Pepper, looking up, observed Tony loosing the ten times hotness factor he was attaining, disappointed, once again watching every moment. Then again, he was always sorta hot with it on, too, so she didn't really completely mind. _I mean, really, Pepper, he's done it a million other times right in front of me, why choose now to think he was like, 10 times hotter? It's like he's hotter than the sun itself! _Pepper thought to herself. She had no doubt in her mind that she was definitely developing just a teeny tiny crush on Tony. Well, who can blame her? Tony's got it all; he's smart, cute, nice, caring, totally un-selfish, a little sensitive, naïve, (well, only a little.) arrogant, but that's what makes him funny. Oh, he's funny, too. It's the whole package that just amazed Pepper. His charming looks, brains and personality were all Pepper was ever looking for. Of course, when she first met him, she realized all these things about his personality, and constantly pushed away the thoughts and possibilities of dating him. But now, there was something more, something keeping those thoughts in her head. She constantly dreamed about being together with him. She daydreamed about what a normal date would be like for them, she dreamed about kissing him, and she longed for something more. The worst part was, that the more she thought about it, the harder she began to fall for him. By now, she was falling **extremely **hard for him. She longed, more and more, for just a simple kiss from him. She so badly wanted to know what it felt like. If that was the joy she felt in hugging him, just imagine the joy she would feel in kissing him.

"Uh-huh. Well my mom says it's time for dinner." Rhodey said. Tony nodded and walked to the door of his room.

"You gonna be ok just sitting here?" Tony asked before completely leaving. Pepper nodded and held up her magazine. Tony shrugged and went to dinner. As soon as Tony was out of sight and out of earshot, she got off his bed and made a beeline for his computer. She closed the schematics program and opened the internet. She went to one of her favorite websites, a simple chat site. She opened a chat with her aunt, who was always using the site. It was like their own place to stay. Her aunt was two years older than her mom, thus way cooler.

_Aunt Dacey, I need advice._

_About what? _

_Well….i'm starting to fall really hard for this friend of mine……what should I do?_

_Well, Pepper, mi chica, just follow your heart! That's simple._ Pepper grinned. Her aunt was like an expert on romance, but had never dated before in her life. She said it was a waste of time. She was a wiz at advice of all kinds, so Pepper naturally went to her for advice. Her mom was a lot like her aunt, but there were differences. Pepper's mom actually got married, and was a lot more girly than her aunt Dacey was, and still is.

_Thanks, Aunt Dacey [: _

_No problem, chica, see you in two days! _Pepper's dad was going out of town for a week, so her aunt was coming to watch Pepper while he was gone.

Pepper logged off, closed the internet and popped the schematics program back on screen. She heard footsteps, so she jumped back to the position she was in when her friends left the room and picked up the magazine.

"Okay, well, it's getting late, so I'll bring you home." Tony said, walking in the room.

"Oh, okay." Pepper responded, getting off the bed and putting the magazine in her bag. As she struggled to fit it in, her diary fell out. The embarrassing part was it had "I3A.E.S." on the front, in big black marker. **(A/N: We all know who A.E.S. is, right? HEhehe [; if ya don't, then just ask me) **Pepper quickly flew her arm down to the floor and covered the writing with her hand. She shoved the embarrassing diary back into her bag.

"Heheh, sorry…" Pepper muttered. She turned her face away from him to hide her blush. Tony shrugged and walked out of the room and out the front door. He quickly asked Rhodey to join them, but Roberta was itching for the three to watch a movie, so Rhodey agreed to stay home and help his mom pick out a movie. Tony opened the door and let Pepper walk out first. Pepper smiled. He was actually being a gentleman. Especially to his own best friend. She stepped outside, Tony following out the door. Pepper struggled to get her arm through the sleeve, so Tony grabbed the sleeve and pulled her arm through it himself. She tossed him a "Thank you" and a smile and zipped up her coat. Tony shook it off with a wave of his hand, and the two continued walking. Pepper longed to slip her hand into his, but knew enough not to. Then Tony broke the silence.

"So, how long has it been?" Tony asked, confusing Pepper.

"Been since what?" Pepper asked, giving him a strange look.

"Since you started liking me." Tony explained. Pepper's eyes grew wide and she almost let out a gasp. Her cheeks went as pink as her shirt.

"What? I-I don't…" Pepper stuttered.

"It's okay, I saw your diary." Tony said with a smirk.

"Oh, ehehh, that; well, i—oh, who am I kidding, a long time now, Tony." Pepper answered. Tony smiled.

"Well, don't worry, 'cause I, ahh, feel the same way." Tony said, a blush forming on his own cheeks. Pepper smiled. They had reached her front door, but right before she was going to open the door, he turned her around and gave her a look saying "You _do _know what happens now, right?" Pepper's grin grew wider and the space between them disappeared. _This,_ this is what it feels like. She was right. It_ was_ amazing. Tony teasingly wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed hers on his cheeks. They parted and Tony waved a goodbye. Pepper, in a dreamy daze, waved back, stuck in a trans of Tony's new emotions for her. She walked into her house and collapsed on her bed, sighing.

"Oh diary, you're always there for me." Pepper smiled.

**The end, hahah!! Wasn't it so cute? I KNOW! It totally was!! [: reviewwww?!**


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